Defence Mechanisms
by time-converges
Summary: Spoilers for the End of Time Part Two. The Doctor left Donna with a defence mechanism. It just didn't work quite the way he expected. Note: AU where the Doctor saves Wilf some other way, so there is no regeneration. 2nd chapter added with the Doctor's PO
1. Defence Mechanism

"Run, Donna, just run, sweetheart!"

She heard her grandfather's panicked voice through her mobile as she looked wildly around at the men closing in on her, all identical, all menacing. She was going to die, right here, right now, but all she could see in her head were the strange images. A giant spider, a rock-creature. "Why can I see a giant wasp?" she asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Just run!"

She pressed her hand to her head as the images came, faster and faster, and her head throbbed, painfully hot. "My head—" she gasped into the phone. She clenched her eyes shut against the images, of herself in a ruined wedding gown, of a man above her as they were both soaked by the water surrounding them. He looked down at her; their eyes met. The heat and noise in her head reached an unbearable pitch, and she threw back her head as the golden energy flashed through her and out of her.

"Doctor," she said, before everything went black.

***

She felt a hand on her face, gentle, and heard Shaun's worried voice. "She's freezing – how long was she lying out there? It's like hypothermia or something. Try 'em again." In the distance she heard a strange, mechanical grinding sound.

"I did! It's engaged –everyone is dialling 999, I can't get through," her mother answered.

"We've got to do something. We've got to wake her up. Donna? Can you hear me? Donna?" Shaun said. His voice sounded far away. She felt strange, disconnected, and yet as though every nerve in her body was buzzing with energy.

"It's not hypothermia," another voice replied. "Get out of the way, please."

"What? Who are you?" she heard Shaun ask.

"Go on son, just let him through." Her grandfather's voice, and she heard movement, and then felt the sofa dip as someone sat next to her.

"Donna?" She felt another hand on her face, brushing her temples, and her eyes flew open with the shock of recognition.

"Doctor." She blinked up into his warm brown eyes, now filled with a mixture of concern and happiness as they met hers. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest as he took her hand. She struggled to push herself upright, but he placed his hands on her shoulders, gently stopping her.

"Just stay there for a minute, alright? Get your bearings."

She gripped his hand more tightly. "What happened? I was outside, and I could see—" She looked around at the circle of worried faces surrounding her, then looked back at the Doctor. "I saw you, and then there was a flash."

He smiled, holding her hand against his chest. His fingers felt warm on hers. "A defence mechanism. It didn't quite work the way I thought it would, but it did the trick." He looked up at her mother and Shaun. "Would you give us a minute?"

Sylvia nodded, mutely, and pushed a protesting Shaun ahead of her out of the room. Wilf touched her shoulder with a smile, and then followed them into the kitchen.

"What do you mean?" Her chest felt tight, her breath catching and making her cough. The Doctor held her shoulders as she calmed.

"Take it easy, the respiratory bypass will take awhile to get used to." He looked down and bent to pick up a cup of tea, helping her sit up enough to drink it. "Here, this will help."

The tea was warm and soothing on her throat, and quieted the coughing spell. Her heartbeat still seemed far too fast, and she pressed her hand to her chest.

"Doctor!" She looked up at him, alarmed. Beneath her hand she could feel the steady thump of two heartbeats.

"I know, it's alright," he said soothingly. He took her other hand and pressed it to his chest. "Breathe with me, you'll be fine," he said, and she felt her heartbeats slow and align with his, relieving some of the pressure. She sighed with relief.

"What does that mean?"

"It means—" He stopped and helped her lie back against the pillows again, keeping hold of her hand. "It means, that you are at least partly Gallifreyan."

"But – how? Why?"

"First things first. You do remember me? Everything?"

She nodded. "Everything. Including you taking it all away and dumping me back here. I'll slap you for that later."

He chuckled. "Fair enough. When I took your memories, I left a sort of defence mechanism. In case you were ever in mortal danger. I couldn't leave you unprotected, could I?"

She looked at him warily. "That energy surge thing?"

"Yes. It should have just released the energy, taking care of whatever was threatening you, and putting you to sleep."

"It did – I saw them fall, and then everything went black."

"Right. But it was more than that. The energy was the regeneration energy left from the metacrisis. Which should have just dissipated, leaving you with a headache—"

"Oh, I've got that alright—"

"Ah, sorry about that. I'll take care of it," he said, frowning. He reached one hand up to brush against her temple, and she felt a spark at the contact.

"Oh!"

"Just like with the Ood, go on, relax," he whispered as he pressed his fingers against her temple.

She took a breath and let it out slowly, and felt his mind brush against her own. There was more this time, as she felt him relax and let the bond flow both ways, and the pain in her head eased. "It's the synapses repairing themselves. Good," he murmured. He retreated and let his hand drop from her head. "Better?"

She nodded. "Much, thank you. So, why do I still remember you? Everything we did?"

"Something happened that I hadn't considered."

She remembered the strange dreams she had had, before she had heard Shaun's voice. "Gallifrey."

"Yes, Gallifrey returned. Just long enough, and at the right time for the energy of all the Time Lords to feed back and converge on you. And the residual energy changed you."

She wondered how much had changed. "How did you know?"

He tapped the side of his head. "You called for me."

"And you came."

"As fast as I could."

She sat up, ignoring the dizziness that washed over her, and let him enfold her in a hug. "I missed you," she whispered against his shoulder. "Even when I didn't remember you, I missed you."

"I know. Me too," he replied.

***

She stepped through the doors of the TARDIS, closing them firmly behind her. He stood at the console, watching her. She could feel the ship welcoming her as it hummed around her. "Alright, spaceman, let's go."

"You're sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. This is my home," she said, walking forward to take his hand. He looked down, turned her hand over in his to trace the palm with one finger. Her skin prickled at the sensation. "If you want me, that is." She looked up at him, suddenly uncertain.

"More than you know," he replied, pulling her into a hug. She felt tears start in her eyes and she stepped back, brushing them away.

"I still owe you a slap."

"Yes," he said with a laugh.

"Perhaps later."

"You've said your goodbyes?"

She nodded. "I tried to explain, but I don't think he understands. He'll be fine though." She hoped that was true. Her mother had cried, of course, but her grandfather had just hugged her tightly.

He touched one of the controls lightly with a finger, looking at her sidelong. "So, where to?"

"Surprise me," she replied, unable to hold back her smile as she saw their future spread out before them.


	2. Sublimation

He hears her as he's free-falling from the Vinvocci ship, in the split-second after he drops through the hatch, just as he's reconsidering the wisdom of his plan. He had felt her when the defence mechanism saved her, just the briefest of connections in what was left of the link between them. If that had been a spark, what he feels now as the wind cuts through him is a flame, burning through his mind with a single word: "Doctor!"

As the skylight, and then the floor, rush up to meet him, the link between them flares open, her fear and pain flooding into him, mingling with his own. The cuts all over his body sting fiercely, and his bones throb with the impact, but what he hears is her in his mind, calling for him.

"Doctor!" He feels a mixture of relief and fear at the familiar sound, the familiar feel of her in his head. He doesn't understand how she can call for him, what might have caused her such anguish, but he's so glad to hear her he could weep.

"Donna," he calls back, but she can't hear him over the roaring in her mind. The confusion overwhelms even his awareness of the millions of Time Lords, poised to return, now whispering in his head where before there had been only the aching silence. He's only distantly aware of the Master and the Lord President watching him as he struggles to breathe, crouched there on the floor.

"Doctor! Help me!" she calls again, and he reaches for her, seeking out the familiar path of her thoughts, no longer questioning how she's able to call to him. He can feel her healing, changing, becoming stronger, and she finally quiets enough that she can feel him responding.

"I'm coming for you," he says silently, willing her to understand. He feels the relief flood through her at the recognition, and he clings to that link as he focuses again on the mansion, and the task at hand.

He had been prepared to die when he dropped from the ship, when he crashed through the skylight, as the glass shattered around him. He had thought the despair he'd felt since Mars, since the Crucible, since Chiswick, would end at last.

He had thought he was prepared. But as he struggles to his feet and turns to face the Lord President, the gun cold in his hand, he knows he faces something infinitely more difficult. He holds on to the link to Donna and feels it strengthen between them, her mind clear and calm at last. The pain recedes as he turns, his mind racing with possibilities of how to end this, how to save the Universe, Earth, her. He takes a deep breath and realizes he's prepared now to live. For her.


End file.
